The community of Kerrville, Texas, ravaged by the catastrophic flooding of the Guadalupe River last week, is mourning its losses asrescue teams continue the grueling task of recovering the remainsof missing victims. At least 119 people have been found dead in nearly a week since heavy rainfall overwhelmed the river and flowed through homes and youth camps in theearly morning hours of July 4. Ninety-five of those killed were in the hardest-hit county in central Texas, Kerr County, where the toll includes at least three dozen children. Some 170 people are still missing throughout the state, and hopes of finding anyone else alive have diminished each passing day, with Kerr County authorities saying they haven't made a "live rescue" since the day of the flood. Among the missing are five campers and a counselor from the beloved Christian girls camp,Camp Mystic, which counted at least 27 children and staff among the death toll. Kerr County authorities and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have pledged that search crews will continue working until every missing person is found. They've alsofaced tough questionsabout who is to blame for the little notice of flood warnings. On Wednesday evening, crowds gathered at a Kerrville high school for a vigil topray for the victimsand missing. "The kingdom of God looks like thousands of volunteers walking along the riverbanks clearing a path," Kerrville resident Josh Smithson, the director of Christian youth outreach organization Young Life, said at the vigil. "The kingdom of God looks like Kerr County rising together in a time of need." Abbott released his agenda for a special session of Texas lawmakers set to begin later this month, and said topics would include pressing questions raised by the deadly July 4 flooding. A special session may be called by the governor after the end of a regular session of the Texas Legislature and before the start of the next session to discuss the topics he puts forward as priorities. The session is set to begin on July 21, Abbott said. "There is more work to be done, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country. We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future." Abbott said. Asked earlier in the week about who is responsible for the heavy death toll in an area known to be prone for flooding, Abbott took umbrage with the use of the word "blame." "That's the word choice of losers," Abbott said on Tuesday before launching into an analogy about the state's most beloved sport, football, and how different teams respond to hardships. "The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame,'' he said. "The championship teams are the ones that say, 'Don't worry about it, man, we've got this. We're going to make sure that we go score again and we're going to win this game.'" In his agenda, Abbott included four items related to the flooding. They include: "Flood warning systems: Legislation to improve early warning systems and other preparedness infrastructure in flood-prone areas throughout Texas. Flood emergency communications: Legislation to strengthen emergency communications and other response infrastructure in flood-prone areas throughout Texas. Relief funding for Hill Country floods: Legislation to provide relief funding for response and recovery from the storms, which began in early July 2025, including local match funding for jurisdictions eligible for FEMA public assistance. Natural disasterpreparation & recovery: Legislation to evaluate and streamline rules and regulations to speed preparedness for and recovery from natural disasters." Also on his agenda are the topics of THC, abortion, redistricting and others. Long-awaited dry conditions are expected across areas of Texas ravaged by floods through the rest of the week, the National Weather Service office serving Austin and San Antonio said on Thursday. The break in rainy, stormy conditions comes after flash flooding continued to threaten recovery efforts through Wednesday night. Kerr Countyissued a Code Red flash floodalert Wednesday evening through 8 p.m. local time when an inch of additional rainfall was expected, bringing a risk of more flash flooding to already saturated areas. The drier conditions are expected to last through Friday before more rain is in the weekend forecast. There could still be isolated, pop-up storms through the end of the week, however, AccuWeather reported. Concerns for search crews will shift to the heat, which could make feels-like temperatures pass triple digits, the outlet said. The hardest-hit area from flooding was Kerr County, particularly Kerrville, a city of just over 25,000 residents about 60 miles outside San Antonio. Here's a breakdown of where the flooding deaths happened by county: Kerr County: 95 Travis County: 7 Kendall County: 8 Burnet County: 5 Williamson County: 3 Tom Green County: 1 This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Search for over 170 missing in Texas floods continues: Live updates
